National Rail chief to step down amid Government pressure

The man in charge of Britain’s railways has announced his departure just three weeks after receiving the public backing of his chairman.

Mark Carne, the £820,000-a-year chief executive of Network Rail, will step down in summer.

His exit comes as heavy criticism of missed punctuality targets, delays to track upgrades and a mounting debt pile threaten to overshadow new stations other multibillion-pound improvements to infrastructure.

The Daily Telegraphrevealed last month that the Government had signalled it wanted change at the top of Network Rail.

The taxpayer-owned company had denied that Mr Carne would leave, however. Chairman Sir Peter Hendy said the former senior Shell executive, appointed in 2014, was doing a “terrific job” and that his position was not under threat.

Network Rail’s board is responsible for appointing its management with no formal role for the Government. Relations with Whitehall are crucial, however, and ministers are understood to have become frustrated with recent progress under Mr Carne.

The company insisted today that Mr Carne, 58, decided to retire at a natural point in his contract. A new chief executive will be appointed in time for the next five-year regulation period, which begins next year.

Mr Carne will remain in place to present Network Rail’s plans for regulators to sign off, leaving his successor to implement them.

Sir Peter, who three weeks ago backed Mr Carne to remain in place until a time of his choosing and said “he continues to drive Network Rail forward”, today said the time was right for change.

He said: “Mark and I have discussed the best timing for a transition. The timing of his decision ensures that a new chief executive will have time to get their feet under the table before the next regulatory period starts.”

Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, paid tribute to Mr Carne’s work on rail modernisation project such as the new stations at Birmingham New Street and London Bridge. The Transport Secretary also praised his “very strong industry leadership on safety and digital rail”.